Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The Daily Gazette
Swarthmore College
Wednesday, February 26, 1997
Volume 1, Number 25
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Goodman drops petition as SC begins work on “everyday issues”
2) Group forms in response to Phoenix article
3) Phoenix editors attend sensitivity workshop
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Convey and Schall named to all-conference team
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
NEWS REPORT
1) Goodman drops petition as SC begins work on “everyday issues”
Joseph Goodman ’97 is withdrawing his petition for a referendum on the
purpose of Student Council. In a letter Tuesday addressed to SC, he said
SC’s discussion Sunday night of practical matters such as the quality of
coffee on campus had convinced him the referendum was no longer necessary.
“The point of this effort was to try to make y’all aware of student opinion
concerning what you have been addressing thus far this semester,” Goodman
wrote. “Thanks for changing your focus to everyday issues. I’ll be putting
away my petitions for a while, and hopefully I won’t have to whip ’em out
ever again.”
Prior to Sunday’s meeting, SC had spent several weeks discussing whether to
make decisions by vote or by consensus, and if by vote, under what rules.
When he began circulating the petition early last week, Goodman said he
thought SC was wasting time discussing its own structure and should get on
with real business.
“I’m glad to hear he’s happy with what steps we’ve taken to address his
concern at this point, and we’ll do our best to carry through on that,”
said SC co-chair Sean Barney ’98. “It’s probably best all around that we
hear the message and try our best to act on it, but not spend the time and
energy it would take to have a referendum on it.”
Goodman’s letter to SC listed several projects he thinks Council should
take on. “It can’t be too hard to get someone to spread wood chips over the
PPR field when it becomes a swamp,” he wrote. Goodman, a former SC
member-at-large, also wants the Council to work on improving the quality of
food service and the meal plan, and to find a way to ban smoking in the
lounge in Tarble-in-Clothier.
*****
2) Group forms in response to Phoenix article
Members of campus support groups are in the process of forming an informal
group to facilitate communication between the various campus support
groups, especially SAO, SQU, HOLA, and SASS. The group has about a dozen
members right now.
Zenzele Stokely-White ’00, one of the main organizers, said that the group
was formed in part as a response to “continuous racist remarks that have
been made by different students to students of color, SQU members, and
women.” She continued, “We feel…what we need to do is combine our forces
to change the perception that these students seem to have, that it’s okay
to make these comments.” She and other members have already attended HOLA
and SAO meetings and plans to meet with Feminist Majority this week and SQU
next week, as well as contacting SOCA (Students of Caribbean Ancestry) and
SASA (Swarthmore African Students Association).
The group coalesced around discontent about an article published in the
February 21 issue of The Phoenix, written by Dan Green ’99, titled “Email
Slams Student Council Candidate.” The article described how an email sent by
John Todd ’97 to four students ended up being sent to all members of SASS.
Todd’s email encouraged the reader not to vote for Ford O’Connell ’00 in
the Student Council elections of February 18 and 19, but to vote, instead,
for Jeannie Gallego ’00. Gallego eventually won the position of
Appointments Chair.
“This isn’t a debate on what was said [by Todd], but how it’s being handled
by the people who are in control, whether it’s the Administration or
whether it’s the people in charge of The Phoenix,” said Stokely-White, a
SASS member. Hayes and McBride are currently writing a response to the
Green article which should appear in next Friday’s issue of The Phoenix.
*****
3) Phoenix editors attend sensitivity workshop
Several Phoenix editors attended a workshop yesterday to increase awareness
of multicultural issues in reporting. The workshop, facilitated by Ben
Maulbeck ’99 and Amy Albert ’98, centered on discussion of various Phoenix
articles and whether or not they were properly inlcusive.
Discussion focused on two articles from last spring–one about Black
Coffee’s formation, and one about admissions statistics–and an article
from 1991 about a controversial Collection. Workshop participants were
asked to look for “what was missing” from these articles.
News co-editor Toki Rehder ’99 said that there was talk of “how we go about
interviewing people for articles…a lot of writers go to their friends for
quotes, which influences the article as far as which voices and which
communities are represented.”
“All of us think that people are in general pretty sensitive about this
stuff,” said Albert, but it’s important to make sure it is fresh in
editors’ minds. Said Maulbeck, “Any publication could use the workshop. If
you aren’t explicitly discussing how to be aware of these issues, then
usually by
default you’ll end up not paying enough attention to them.”
Aarti Iyer ’99, co-Editor-in-Chief of the Phoenix, saw the workshop as a
means to better journalism: “The point of journalism is to get as close to
the truth as possible…by not including certain angles or perspectives we
aren’t getting as close.” Rehder agreed: “It’s not that we want to be PC,
but not getting all sides of the issue is just bad journalism.”
The editors do not plan to make any major changes to The Phoenix as a
result of the workshop.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Convey and Schall named to all-conference teams
Colin Convey ’97 was elected to the First Team All-Centennial Conference on
Tuesday. Convey, the Garnet’s point guard, led the conference in assists
(4.0 per game) and three-point field goals (55) and was fourth in
free-throw percentage (80.4%). He averaged 11 points, 4 assists, 1.9
rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
Ben Schall ’97 also received conference recognition as an Honorable
Mention. Schall led the Garnet with a 14.5 points per game average. He also
contributed 7.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.7 steals per game on the
season.
*****
2) Tonight’s and tomorrow’s contests
There are no contests scheduled for any sports until this coming weekend.
*****
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The Daily Gazette
Board of Editors
Fred Bush
Kate Doty
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David Lischer
Eric Pakurar
Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
Sylvia Weedman
Contributing writer
Jessica Harbour
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This concludes today’s report.
Copyright 1997 by The Daily Gazette. All rights reserved.